


I Believe

by FalCatrecon



Series: KARRwatch [1]
Category: Baywatch (TV), Knight Rider (1982)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:27:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26018740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FalCatrecon/pseuds/FalCatrecon
Summary: A what if it had been Mitch to find KARR on the beach in 1984, the right place at the right time.-------It had been precisely 1 year, 11 months and 16 days since he had fallen into the ocean. It had been 1 year, 11 months and 15 days since he had been buried in the sand on shore. He had calculated his odds of getting out with the proper application of a turbo boost and found the chance of freeing himself was not one hundred percent. He instead found that if he put that same fuel towards hibernation he could likely last decades, if not longer, and eventually the water would wash away the sand.But this day was unique. The human murmuring of words filtering through the sand was something he heard on and off, likely this stretch of beach difficult to reach under the cliff-face, but these were getting closer. Perhaps the water had done its job and he was closer to the surface than he had calculated. He flicked on his scanner, struggling to sense something beyond the layers of dirt. A single human, seemingly talking to himself. Something about alone time.
Relationships: KARR & Mitch Buchannon
Series: KARRwatch [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1896091
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	I Believe

It had been precisely 1 year, 11 months and 16 days since he had fallen into the ocean. It had been 1 year, 11 months and 15 days since he had been buried in the sand on shore. He had calculated his odds of getting out with the proper application of a turbo boost and found the chance of freeing himself was not one hundred percent. He instead found that if he put that same fuel towards hibernation he could likely last decades, if not longer, and eventually the water would wash away the sand.

But this day was unique. The human murmuring of words filtering through the sand was something he heard on and off, likely this stretch of beach difficult to reach under the cliff-face, but these were getting closer. Perhaps the water had done its job and he was closer to the surface than he had calculated. He flicked on his scanner, struggling to sense something beyond the layers of dirt. A single human, seemingly talking to himself. Something about alone time.

This section of beach was hard to reach for most people, and Mitch knew it. He was looking for some alone time away from the argument he’d just had with his wife. He couldn’t help complaining to himself out loud, rehashing pieces of arguments. “I wasn’t in Australia for that long.” It had been a year. “...Fine. But Hobie isn’t going to remember me being gone for this one.” That one he had to roll his eyes at himself, even without his mental Gayle’s reminder. “Yeah yeah, Gayle is allowed to miss me too. Fine.” 

He hefted a sigh and kicked at the sand, foot connecting with something a bit harder. “What the...” Kneeling, he dug into the sand where his foot had made the divot. Something black and shiny was underneath, and if he wasn’t mistaken…. It looked remarkably like the roof of a car. He frowned and dug around more with his hands, uncovering what looked like the beginnings of a windshield. It was a car, and it looked undamaged even after being buried in the sand. He stopped, unsure if he wanted to continue. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen a fair share of found bodies, having participated in a lot of dives for missing swimmers, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted his day off to have one too.

It was a such a tiny opening, but light finally streamed into his cabin after being dark for ages. He desperately wanted to light up, roar his engine, anything to get the man to undig him further. But he stopped himself. He had no idea who this man was or who he may work for. It was unlikely he was directly associated with FLAG, but that didn’t mean he was selfish enough to simply turn him in.

Mitch looked up the path down to the beach, then back at what he had uncovered. Curiosity won out and he dug a bit more sand away from the windshield, enough to let him actually see inside the darkened interior. Unless the body was jammed behind the seating, it was empty, abandoned. It was still in mint condition, as if someone just parked it and left to be swallowed by nature. “Who would abandon a sweet ride like you?”

The comment confused KARR for a moment as this human continued to try and dig him out by hand. KARR had been abandoned hadn’t he? FLAG had left him to rot in a storage space and KITT had left him to sink. Now he had caused an explosion as he jumped, so perhaps they had thought him destroyed. He would have thought KITT would know he could survive such a pitiful fall.

His scanners watched the man shift more dirt, learning his biometrics as he did so. Very well off physically for a human male if he understood muscle and weight ratios correctly. Finally enough had been moved from one of his cameras and he could see the face of his rescuer. He nearly tried a turbo boost right there and then before the rest of the data was processed. No matter that he looked like the aggressor Michael, his voice pattern had been just enough different, the body slightly broader. He did not know this man.

Mitch took a moment to catch his breath, glancing at the sun, then his watch. He couldn’t dig this out by hand, he needed at least a shovel if not one of the tows from a rescue vehicle. He looked back to the car, running a hand along the top idly. “For some reason I want to keep you a secret.” He stood up after one last pat. “I’ll need a shovel or it’ll take all week. Be back shortly.”

KARR watched the man jog off, presumably to gather the aforementioned shovel. Unless he truly was related to Michael, keeping him a secret was a good thing. If he was kept secret that would mean only this man knew. If he was not amenable to working with him, he could simply disappear and no one would be the wiser. Something in his mind had him pause at that thought. Part of his logic circuits dictated that perhaps, as the man _was_ rescuing him, death would be a poor reward.

\-------------

The rumble of an engine coming down the path had KARR wish that the man had covered him back up. While anyone pulling him out would be a blessing, at least the previous one he knew wasn’t much of a threat. The vehicle in question was a yellow truck, red lettering along its side declaring ‘lifeguard’. Finally it got close enough that his sand-covered sensors could detect his savior in the front seat and the winch attached to the grill. That would be a quicker way to remove him once a bit more sand was moved. The man wasn’t completely stupid.

Mitch parked the truck and grabbed the shovel from the bed. He found himself grinning as he began to dig again, watching the light reflect off the windshield. “Gayle is going to kill me for bringing home a project car.” The sand came away quicker now. As the sand shifted he misjudged the depth, feeling the shovel scrape on the hood. He winced, dropping the shovel and moving the sand out of the way to check the paint job. It had been perfect until he had… He frowned, unable to find any sort of scratch. Must have gotten lucky. He patted the spot. “One less thing I’ll have to fix.” He gave the car a big smile. “Not that I’ve found anything I need to fix so far as it is! The salt water’s bound to have rusted something though.”

KARR felt he should be offended at the comparison to a regular car, but it wasn’t as if the man knew that he was anything but a simple trans am. He would tell about himself once he was unstuck so he had a chance to leave if first impressions went poorly. He watched the man work more on unburying him, finding it odd how easy he smiled. It was genuine too, unlike those two who had freed him from his slumber almost two years ago. He also liked to hear himself talk.

“Hobie will love you, I’m sure.” He was finally freeing the nose of the car, trying to brush some of the sand out of the nooks and crannies. “How did you get down here. That path is bad enough now for even my truck, much less,” He eyed what he could see, finally able to figure out its make and model, “two years ago.” The light setup in the grill was unique, and the hood mold custom too. “You’re just a pile of mysteries. Super custom job, brand new and just left here to rot?” He shook his head. “I hope you’re not stolen goods.” Even then if it was, what would have made the thief leave it here?

Finally he managed enough sand clear of the front tires to be able to find a place to attach the tow chain. The underside looked in near perfect condition too, untouched by the rust that salt causes. Custom as well, and he found it hard to get a purchase on any framework. He finally managed a hook around the front axle. It wasn’t the best place to pull on, but it would have to do.

He leaned into the truck to hit the winch, listening to it whirl until it reached that groan of it losing slack. It would do no good to continue with the winch, not with the car as embedded as it was. He did know basic physics. And with that knowledge he climbed in and accelerated the truck backwards, using it as a towing device. The engine growled, tires starting to spin in the sand.

KARR quietly started his engine, hiding it under the sound of the truck, and added a bit of his own force forward, finding the tow had dislodged just enough he could pull free. He immediately killed his engine after. His introduction should wait a moment longer.

Mitch let out a whoop of excitement as the trans am pulled free, and he quickly scrambled over to give it a proper full inspection and see just what he’d need to get it home. As he looked it over he found that other than needing a bath it was somehow in amazing condition.

“You’re something special, that’s for sure!” He ran his hand appreciatively over the hood. “I thought project car but no work needed.” He tugged at the door handle and it opened smoothly, surprising him. As he slid into the driver’s seat he got his first proper look at the interior. “The hell. Are you some kind of X-Wing or something?”

“I do not know of an X-Wing. I am the Knight Automated Roving Robot. You may refer to me as KARR.” It felt good to make his presence known, his dash lighting up following his words. The man jumped in the seat, heartbeat elevated in surprise. KARR was unsure if the man could even become more confused than before.

“You can talk!” Mitch took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. A talking car. A talking _robot_ car.

“Yes.” KARR said it plainly, though he could not help the hint of annoyance leak into his tone.

“I just. Sorry.” Mitch gestured at the dash. “What are you?”

His next words were sharp. Was this man simply stupid? “I just said I am the Knight-”

“Yes yes, KARR, got that part. I’m Mitch by the way.” He waved again at the buttons all around him, excited now. “I mean are you some super spy vehicle, some secret government experiment, some… I don’t know, _alien_ hardware?”

KARR had to actually take a moment and let Mitch ramble. One, he was upset as he had never been cut off before while talking, and two, he was, pleasantly, surprised at his sudden interest rather than fear. A bit fool-hardy considering he knew nothing about him, but refreshing. “Out of those options, I suppose I qualify under ‘government experiment’.”

“Did you escape?” Mitch tentatively reached out to touch the wheel. “Is that why you were buried? Two years…” He couldn’t help but pet the dash a moment, the enormity of the time finally sinking in. “That must have been lonely.”

“I… escaped, yes.” Mitch had once again surprised him. Why would this human even consider caring about him or how lonely he had been? “They were going to deactivate me.”

“Why?” That finally flipped the ‘I might be in danger’ switch. Mitch didn’t move though, as KARR hadn’t done anything to him yet. Plus he was pretty sure _outside_ of KARR was more dangerous than inside as he was soft and squishy versus the hard shell of the KARR.

KARR could feel the heart rate increase, Mitch’s excitement finally tempered. That was what he had expected before, and now felt on more familiar territory. This was normal. “Do not worry, I am not dangerous to you. I had simply come to the end of my usefulness.”

That made Mitch frown, his fear forgotten again. “What. But you’re…” He gestured again at KARR as a whole. “You’re sentient!” He nodded to himself, mentally deciding something. While he was in the shape of a car, he was still a being and that was something he had promised himself he’d keep safe. “ _You_ are going to stay with me until I find out how to keep you from getting killed.”

That stunned KARR into silence. This puny human wanted to _protect_ him? After knowing him for all of five minutes? He could kill him at least five different ways from inside his body alone, not to mention the fact he could ruin his life simply for fun before that. But he did need a place to lay low and properly learn the ways of the world. His last attempt had been disastrous, and there was only so much he could learn from what little his sensors could pick up through the sand. “...I accept.”


End file.
